This week our school choir have visited a local community group to sing for them. The pupils were excited to entertain service users and came back to school very proud of their achievements. We have had opportunities this week for pupils to visit local churches to learn about the Christmas story. Primary 6 participated in Christmas Unwrapped and Primary 3 participated in Christmas Cracker. Next week, all pupils will have an opportunity to watch a production of, ‘The Big Story’ led by South Lanarkshire Council librarians.
Scottish Attainment Challenge
Next week I will update the council on the progress we are making at Heathery Knowe PS using the money given to the school as part of the Pupil Equity Fund. Our key targets are to:
- Improve attainment in literacy and numeracy using the additional teacher employed at the school.
- Improve children and young people’s health and wellbeing through the Skills Force experience in P7 and establishing nurturing approaches throughout the school.
- Improve attainment through the development of teacher learning communities.
We carefully monitor and track pupil progress at each stage to ensure that children are challenged and supported in their learning.
Talk 4 Writing
On Wednesday Mrs Kane and Miss Wharton will attend a course on ‘Talk 4 Writing’. Talk for Writing enables children to imitate the language they need for a particular topic orally before reading and analysing it and then writing their own version. It builds on 3 key stages:
- Imitation
- Innovation
- Independent Application
The Talk 4 Writing approach will be used consistently across the school next session. This year, staff are participating in training and familiarising themselves with the approach.
You can find out more about Talk 4 Writing using the following link:
http://www.talk4writing.co.uk/
Attendance at School
Parents will be issued with a short guide to how the school promotes and monitors attendance at school. The Senior Leadership Team monitor pupil attendance on a monthly basis. If a child’s attendance falls below 90% then the school will support them to improve their attendance using the following steps:
- A member of the Senior Leadership Team will contact the parent to discuss whether there is an underlying reason for the child’s absence and any support that may be required. We understand that pupil attendance is affected by a range of factors such as ill health, anxiety, bereavement, holiday etc.
- A letter will be sent to parents to let them know the child’s attendance rate and how many school days have been missed. We will also include a print out of the child’s attendance.
- Attendance will continue to be monitored each month. If the child’s attendance does not improve then we will meet together to write an Attendance Support Plan with agreed targets and supports.
- On some occasions, we need to seek support from partnership agencies (e.g. Social Work, SCRA) to identify ways to improve attendance at school. The school will always meet with parents to discuss this before this step is taken.
Educational Excursions
There has been a change to the school procedures for seeking permission for excursions. A letter will be issued to all parents before the end of term. Verbal permission or a note in the diary is not a sufficient way to give permission to attend an educational excursion. Moving forward, the correct (EV5) permission slip needs to be completed for each excursion. Without this, children will not be able to attend.
School Holidays
School holidays for 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 are now published and available on the South Lanarkshire Council website.
Adverse Weather Arrangements
Every effort will be made to ensure that Heathery Knowe PS remains open to pupils. However, in cases of severe weather conditions, there may be a need to open later, close earlier or be closed all day.
A parent guide to adverse weather arrangements will be sent home next week with guidelines on how we make decisions and share information.
What’s on next week?
- Monday – School show dress rehearsal
- Tuesday – School show 1.30pm
- Wednesday – Mrs Kane and Miss Wharton attending Talk 4 Writing
- Wednesday – School show 6.30pm
- Thursday – Christmas Lunch / Wear Something Festive / P6 Party
- Friday – The Big Story / P5 Party
Thank you for your continued support.
Kind regards
Kirsty Duff
